Examining the Efficacy of School-Based Consultation: Recommendations for Improving Outcomes

SUMMARY

Schools are faced with the difficult task of educating students who present diverse learning and behavioral challenges. To meet student needs, schools tap the expertise of a variety of specialists who provide services through “pull-out” programs or consultation to general educators. Unfortunately, neither strategy has proved effective to date with respect to children and youth who present significant social behavior problems. A brief review of the literature points to the shortcomings as linked to multiple treatments with varying outcomes and inconsistent implementation of best practices. One option to address the challenges schools face in light of ineffective practices to date is the development of school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS). Effective implementation of school-wide systems of PBS will require moving the consultation process from individual cases to working with teams of educators. Key skills and possible measurement strategies to develop and sustain school-wide consultation efforts are discussed.     

Evidence-Based Practice in Family Therapy and Systemic Consultation II

Evidence for the effectiveness of family-based treatments from critical literature reviews and controlled trials is considered for the following list of adult-focused problems: marital distress, psychosexual problems, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, alcohol abuse, chronic pain, and the family management of neurologically impaired adults. Evidence-based practices which may be used within the context of marital and family therapy and systemic consultation arising from the review are discussed.     

A Meta-analysis of Prereferral Intervention Teams: Student and Systemic Outcomes

Although prereferral intervention teams (PIT) are common in public schools, there is little and conflicting research to support them. The current article conducted an empirical meta-analysis of research on PITs by reviewing 72 articles. Nine of the articles matched the inclusion criteria for the study and 57 effect size (ES) coefficients were computed, which resulted in a mean ES of 1.10. The studies were further broken down by category of dependent variable (DV), and resulted in a mean ES of 1.15 for student outcomes and 0.90 for systemic outcomes. PITs that were implemented by university faculty resulted in a mean ES of 1.32, but field-based PITs resulted in a mean ES of only .54. Studies that used random assignment resulted in higher ES coefficients than those that used nonrandom assignment. Implications for research and cautious suggestions for practice are discussed.     

Clinical Consultation as a Family Intervention in Residential Treatment: Exploring What Impacts Outcomes

The Relational Re-enactment Systems Approach to Treatment model is an approach to residential treatment that embraces the need for family involvement through clinical consultation. Clinical consultation is a systems-oriented family intervention that embodies the model’s principles regarding therapeutic alliance and working through ambivalence. Families engage with treatment providers and other collaterals in an ongoing process of developing goals, creating a shared understanding of the youth, and working toward discharge. The current study explored youth characteristics and outcomes. Additionally, the investigation included comparisons between youth with and without the involvement of the Department of Children and Family Services in terms of length of stay, involvement in consultation, and sustained outcomes. Finally, therapists who work with youth and their families discussed their understanding of what differentiated successful and unsuccessful cases.     

Team Reasoning and the Rational Choice of Payoff-Dominant Outcomes in Games

Topoi - Standard game theory cannot explain the selection of payoff-dominant outcomes that are best for all players in common-interest games. Theories of team reasoning can explain why such...     

Consultation to Improve a Special Educaton Teacher's Participation in Annual Review Multidisciplinary Team Meetings

Annual review multidisciplinary team meetings, in which special education student cases are reviewed and placement decisions made for the coming year, depend for their effectiveness on appropriate teacher assessment of student progress. This article reports on a consultation effort, internal to a multidisciplinary team, from which were developed two decision-making models which allowed a special education teacher to assess problem areas in her typical preparation for meetings and to devise more systematic preparation procdures. Changes resulting from the consultation are discussed. General issues posing difficulties for multidisciplinary team staffing of students in classes for the emotionally disturbed are also described.     

The Impact of Poor Performers on Team Outcomes: An Empirical Examination of Attribution Theory*

We test assertions that attribution theory (AT) can explain the responses of peers to the characteristics of a poor performing team member. Study 1 assessed the processes used to interpret the behavior of a poor performer and found that behavioral manifestations of cognitive ability (g) and Conscientiousness were associated with causal attributions (locus, controllability, and stability), emotional and cognitive reactions, and behavioral intentions to help or punish a fellow team member. Building on Study 1, Study 2 focused on team level responses to the lowest performer. It assessed the impact of g/Conscientiousness of a poorly performing team member on involving others, communication, feedback, and citizenship behaviors of team members at the team level. Both studies converged in finding that individual team members' intentions to help or punish were related to poor performer traits.     

Members Matter in Team Training: Multilevel and Longitudinal Relationships Between Goal Orientation,Self‐Regulation,and Team Outcomes

Longitudinal data from 338 individuals across 64 teams in a simulation‐based team‐training context were used to examine the effects of dispositional goal orientation on self‐regulated learning (self‐efficacy and metacognition). Team goal orientation compositions, as reflected by average goal orientations of team members, were examined for moderating effects on these individual‐level relationships. Finally, individual‐level self‐regulation was investigated for its influence on multiple team‐level outcomes across time. Results showed generally positive effects of learning goal orientation and negative effects of avoid performance and prove performance goal orientations on rates of self‐regulation during team training. However, several of these individual‐level relationships were moderated by team goal orientation composition. The importance of self‐regulation in teams was displayed by results showing the average level of self‐regulation among a team's members over time was positively associated with team efficacy, team cooperation quality, and team decision making.     

Differences in Individual Approaches: Communication in the Familial Breast Cancer Consultation and the Effect on Patient Outcomes

This multicenter study aimed to assess (i) whether individual clinical geneticists and genetic counselors vary in their communication skills and (ii) whether this variation in communication impacts on patient outcomes, such as anxiety, depression, genetics knowledge, and satisfaction. One hundred and fifty women from high-risk breast cancer families attending their first genetic counseling consultation completed pre and post-consultation self-report questionnaires. The consultations were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Univariate analyses showed highly significant differences between individual clinical geneticists and genetic counselors in: facilitating understanding (p 0.001); facilitating active involvement (p 0.001); facilitating partnership building (p = 0.003); addressing emotional concerns (p 0.001); and discussing prophylactic mastectomy (p = 0.017). Multivariate linear regressions showed that this variation in communication resulted in a greater change in patients depression 4 weeks after the counseling session (p = 0.017). These findings suggest clinical geneticists and genetic counselors have achieved some standardization in communicating information, but showed diversity in their facilitation skills. Communication skills may be a useful area to explore further in this field.     

Peer Leadership in Sport: Relationships among Personal Characteristics,Leader Behaviors,and Team Outcomes

Abstract

The present study comprised two meta-analyses of published studies that used the Profile of Mood States (POMS) to investigate relationships between mood and athletic achievement (n = 13) and between mood and performance outcome (n = 16). Results showed that effect sizes (ESs) for the level of achievement metaanalysis were minimal (Weighted Mean ES = .10, SD = .07), a finding consistent with a previous meta-analysis by Rowley, Landers, Kyllo, and Etnier (1995). Larger effects were found for the performance outcome meta-analysis (Weighted Mean ES = .31, SD = .12). Effects were moderate for vigor, confusion, and depression, small for anger and tension, and very small for fatigue. All effects were in the direction predicted by Morgan's (1985) Mental Health Model. Effects were larger in sports of short duration, in sports involving open skills, and where performance was judged using self-referenced criteria. Findings suggest that the POMS has utility in the prediction of performance outcome but not in the prediction of level of achievement.     

Generic Models of Counseling Supervision: Counseling/Instruction Dichotomy and Consultation Metamodel

Major conceptual models for counseling supervision are described and compared: supervision as a counseling analog, as an instruction or teaching analog, and as a role that includes counseling and teaching aspects. Although each of these approaches avails supervisors of familiar roles, none adequately provides the scope and utility required of a model for such a complex function. Thus, a higher order metamodal, supervision as consultation, is presented, and this consultation metamodel is related to the psychoeducational model for counseling psychology.